Arriving late to work, gossiping, making private calls ‘corruption’

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) has issued a raft of new regulations declaring various behaviors at work as corrupt acts including gossiping, making personal calls, reading irrelevant material and not adhering to office hours.

This expands the previous definition of corruption from misuse of funds, forgery and bribery and targets workers at ministries and government agencies. These offenses all carry penalties, the NACC stated recently.

The new NACC definition includes using government vehicles for personal use and creating luxury offices. The Nazaha includes on its list officials taking out advertisements in the media, and hosting events to promote their image or congratulate themselves on work completed. The NACC said that it encourages workers to report whether their managers arrive late for work, or leave early. It also wants managers to report insubordinate workers failing to do their jobs.

The NACC stated that workers are guilty of administrative corruption if they deliberately fail to attend to the needs of the public, such as issuing documents. It is also an act of corruption to reveal confidential information on tenders and contracts.

The NACC stated that it is wrong to use telephones for personal use, and provide jobs for relatives and acquaintances at the expense of qualified citizens. It is also a corrupt act to use one’s influence, or wasta, to get things done by bypassing normal procedures.

The NACC said there are severe penalties for these infractions. It intends to monitor government workplaces with regular inspections.